Outsource Vs. Insource: An Evaluation

Marketing leaders and Technology executives are often faced with difficulties regarding the decision of outsourcing their significant business projects and operations. However, as new technologies and skills are required, it has become a usual business practice to outsource important aspects of strategy and implementation.

Outsourcing certain non-core activities allows businesses to stay focused on their own core offerings without getting sidetracked on major projects. Savings are certainly the main draw of outsourcing, but there are various other factors that come into play, when evaluating whether to build a team in-house, or outsource.

Effort

When we consider effort, the first thing that comes to mind is the time devoted by an outsourcing agency on your projects. Time is required to manage the outsourcing projects just as an in-house team, and time is required to establish expertise on the projects. An outsourcing firm should be such, where they are able to minimize your effort in having to manage the project and the teams, thus letting you focus your time on what’s most important to you.

Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the engagement or the end result of the outsourced project should be similar if not significantly better than what it would have been if managed in-house. Since outsourcing agencies have years of experience managing projects across different verticals, they know what works best and what does not. The expertise the vendor brings is one of the main factors why more is expected from them, as compared to the internal staff.

Promptness

The ability to be quick, to turn things around on short notice, makes outsourcing a preferred option for many organizations that do not have the bandwidth available to take on important initiatives. It’s been observed that in-house projects take approximately twice as long as an outsourced initiative.

Experience

Compare the experience of your internal team and outsourcing agency. Look carefully as to whether or not the in-house talent has executed a similar project, or whether the outsourcing firm has the type of background you need for your project. A team that has significant experience, can carry execute a difficult project towards success with ease.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that outsourcing is being looked at seriously in a growing number of organizations even ones that had rejected the option in the past.

The criterion mentioned above are by no means the only factors based on which you should consider outsourcing as an option, but by running down this initial list, you can arrive fairly quickly at whether you should be looking for an outsourcing team or completing the project in house.